


On the Mound

by BeautifulDistraction



Category: Pitch (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Canon divergent after episode 9, F/M, Some profanity, Then more angst, and then fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-25
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-09-19 22:28:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9463037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeautifulDistraction/pseuds/BeautifulDistraction
Summary: Ginny and Mike have a heated argument on the mound a week after the events of 1x09. Things get a little out of hand when Ginny shoves him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if this is awful. I had to talk myself out of deleting it. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I know _nothing_ about baseball. Haven't ever watched or played a game... so um, I kind of, maybe, made up some things. Oops?

 

"Alright Baker, what the hell are you doing? That's gotta be the _fifth_ time you've shook off my call!" Mike leaned in, smacking his chest twice with the fingertips of his ungloved hand. " _I'm_ the catcher, _I_ decide the calls! Get your head straight!"

"Your calls are stupid! You're gonna make us lose this. Didn't you go over the hitters pre-game?" Ginny stepped forward on the mound, moving closer to where Mike stood with his mitt covering his mouth. "Oh wait, no you didn't. Instead _you_ called _me_ off when I came asking, just so you could keep eye-fucking and chatting up that hot blonde reporter in the hallway."

Mike flinched, dropping his gloved hand. Well, so what if she'd noticed that? All week he'd had to hear about her and her new billionaire beau. She hadn't even had the decency to give him a heads up. Turnabout was fair. "Don't push me Baker. You've been pissing me off all week, and I'm this close to losing it with you."

"Oh, that’s rich! I've been pissing _you_ off?" She shoved him lightly with both palms, pressing further forward. She hadn't bothered hiding her mouth from the cameras. It was a hot day and Mike was making her lose her focus. She wanted him back behind the batter catching her pitches, which _she_ would call from now on, not him, but since he seemed to want to finally have it out with her… well, she'd let him try that first.

"Okay then, go 'head, lose it old man. What are you gonna do? Huh?" she half yelled at him, over the growing noise in the stadium.

She shoved him again, harder this time. Mike looked too stunned to do anything to stop himself from staggering backwards. In her peripheral vision Ginny could see the umpire start moving towards them. Somewhere in her mind she registered that Al and Blip would be close behind.

 She thrust her pointer finger into his chest."You're all talk Lawson and I'm done hearing it. I decide what I'm going to pitch today. You just make sure you catch the damn ball. We clear?"

Mike pushed her hand away roughly. "The _hell_ we are!" He yelled.

He could admit that yes, maybe he should have gone over the hitters with her before the game.

For _her_ sake. Not his.

Mike had been playing for well over a decade now. _He_ didn't need to go over them to be able to make the right calls. He was experienced enough to know his way around the old-time hitters, and smart enough to read the newer ones by their batting stances and cockiness. (A small voice in the back of his head realized how douche-y that sounded, but he ignored it).

She was projecting because she was… she was jealous. He had more than enough experience in his thirty-plus years to know how to read jealousy. With groupies fighting each other for his attention at nightclubs, he had learned to read the signs. Besides, hadn't he been avoiding her and the snobby tech guy for the same reason?

That night at Boardners had made a great many things clear about how they felt for one another. They hadn't talked about it… Mike didn't see the point in talking about it. There was nothing they could do right now, and he had a feeling that if they said it out loud, if he was to tell her exactly how she made him feel… they'd have to deal with those feelings there and then because there was no way he'd be able to go back to pretending.

He could feel his anger and frustration start to boil over with no release, and everything except the stubborn woman standing in front of him and driving him _mad_ , disappeared.

"You know what Baker?" he yelled, standing taller to tower over her, "You can hate me, you can keep yelling at me and causing a fucking scene in public," he flicked her blue Padres hat off abruptly with his non-gloved hand and leaned in closer. His palm came to rest on her shirt, over her left collarbone."… but all you're doing is proving exactly why we can't talk about what's really eating you up right now and affecting how you play. Isn't this why you keep your rules, _Ginny_?"

They glared at each other silently for a moment before he gave up and huffed, letting out a tired breath that fanned over Ginny's face lightly, giving her goosebumps. Al and Blip were nearly running to reach them now. With a gentle force, he pushed her back with his palm and turned away, putting some space between them. Ginny let herself stumble backwards.

"Look around you Baker."

Blinking into focus, the sounds of the roaring crowd assaulted her ears, and she began to feel the blistering sun scorching her now unprotected face . She rubbed away the droplets of sweat that had formed on her forehead with the back of her hand as the umpire finally reached them, glancing back and forth at the two with an irritated and disapproving expression. Jesus, what was she doing?

"Padres thirty-six, forty-three, you are out of line! Consider this your first and final warning! You have thirty seconds to get back into play or you're both out!" the umpire shouted furiously. Mike had turned back around meeting Ginny's eyes unflinchingly. She couldn't look away.  

As Al and Blip finally joined the mound, the umpire added, "Sort out your players Luongo, I ain't got time for domestics on the field," and walked off, shaking his head.

"G… what's going on?" Blip said uncertainly, looking at Mike. "You good?"

Ginny closed her eyes, breaking contact with her captain. She breathed in, and then out, becoming the robot she'd been trained to be, as she opened her eyes to look at her friend.

"Yeah, Blip. Couldn't agree on a pitch, that’s all. We're good now." She bent down to pick up her hat.

"Manhandling your female pitcher… that’s not a good look Mike, especially for a captain," Al spoke calmly, knowing that he needed to ignore the obvious tension and remind his players that they were professionals.

Everyone had noticed the ice between pitcher and catcher this week but he'd thought that his two most focused players would be able to set it aside for the game. He'd need to get to the bottom of this, especially if the umpire's last comment had any merit.

"If anyone was getting manhandled it was me!" the catcher scoffed, pulling his helmet back down over his face."But it won't happen again, Al."

"Good to hear."

"Yeah, 'cause then I'd have to get involved and you really don't want that," Blip added.

Adjusting her hat, Ginny rolled her eyes. "Mike, we'll stick to your call for my fastball, then we go back to the screwgie. That hitter almost always expects the same pitch twice. Sound good?"

"Fine, works for me Rookie."

"Great."

They nodded at each other as they always did, but this time there was no connection. They were closed off, two boats drifting further away by the second as they let the salty, ocean current sweep them apart.

Mike felt an overwhelming heaviness settle in him as he made his way back to finish the game. He knew they'd broken something between them just now, and it felt so final, he almost couldn't look at her as knelt down on his grating knees and took his catcher's stance.

Even as they won the game and secured themselves a position in the world series, as he watched Ginny's fake laughter and heard her brush off the incident on the mound as "just a disagreement" to the press, he couldn't help but feel that everything had gone so wrong.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first piece of fiction I've written in 8 years.
> 
> Yep, eight. It's also my first fanfic... so basically, I know its not very good lol.  
> I wanted to avoid clichés and make it more funny but I'm clearly out of practice. My original intention was for it to be light, and for the two to start making up when Mike childishly flips her hat off her head instead of shoving her like she did him.  
> This story just wouldn't let me make it happy. 
> 
> Let me know what you think, and any suggestions for getting back into writing after a huge break are welcome too!


	2. Let's Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ginny decides that she and Mike need to talk one-on-one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so amazed by all the lovely things you guys have been saying in your comments. Its given me so much confidence while writing. 
> 
> Thank you for your support, and I hope you enjoy this final chapter!

 

 

"Hey Lawson," Ginny called, appearing in the doorway of the clubhouse locker room, her grip tight on its' frame. "Got a sec?"

She was dressed in her black, comfy tights and a long-sleeved red hoodie. Her curly black hair fell loosely on her shoulders, bobbing slightly as she moved. It was later in the day and most of the remaining players had changed back into their own clothes. Mike sported a light blue buttoned shirt, with a pair of dark blue jeans.

If not for the situation they were in, and the ballplayers still hanging around their lockers, Ginny would have laughed at how Mike froze at the sound of her voice, caught off guard. It took a sharp jab from Blip who was lounging next to him on the couches to bring him back to life.

"Uh Rookie! I was - Blip and I were - I mean… can it wait?"

She rolled her eyes, noticing that conversation in the clubhouse had mostly halted as the other players covertly sneaked glances at their two teammates. "I'll see you at my locker in two minutes."

As she walked off she heard a laughing voice quip, "Man up, Lawson."

"Shut it, Shrek."

 

 

Two days had passed since Ginny and Mike had lost their cool on the mound. Oscar, Charlie and Al had pulled them aside and into Al's office as soon as they'd left the dugout, primarily to keep them from the press before they could agree on a statement, but also so that they could launch the longest interrogation Ginny had ever been subjected to.

Even as her anxiety had skyrocketed, Ginny held fast to her original story. It had been a professional disagreement… they'd been unable to settle on what to pitch… no, there was nothing going on between them… yes, they took the game seriously… no, it wouldn't happen again. To make her lies more believable (and also a little bit out of… okay, a lot out of pettiness) she threw in the fact that Mike had refused to go over the hitters with her before the game, making her doubt his calls.

To throw one back at her, Mike told them that she'd blown the issue out of proportion because she was still pissed at him for trying to leave for the Cubs before the wildcard game. Not wanting to prolong their torture any longer, Ginny had pressed her lips together and let that one slide.

Amelia had crept into the office by this point and was able to extract her client from any further questioning. As they'd left she'd given Mike a look that promised he wasn't in the clear yet.

Since then Mike had continued to play his avoidance game, and for once Ginny had been happy enough to leave it alone.

Until Evelyn.

 

 

The day after the game Evelyn had stormed into her hotel room at 8am, practically screeching. Sleepy Ginny just crawled further into her bed covers in response, scrunching up her eyes and covering her ears.

Grabbing a pillow from Ginny's bed Evelyn began hitting her in time with her tirade. "I. Have. Been. Calling. You. Nonstop!!!! Why aren't you answering your phone!? Where were you? WHAT HAPPENED?"

"Oh my god Ev, would you back up? It's too early, I can't think right now." Definitely didn't help that she'd spent most of the night awake in bed, replaying the entire day's events on loop. 

"I have coffeee," Evelyn sang.

Ginny pushed her nose out of her covers and sniffed.

Ev was no liar. Damn it.

 

 

After she started feeling the coffee pumping through her veins, they lay back in her bed, facing each other as she told Evelyn everything that happened in the week leading up to the game, and more.

"If he hadn't started avoiding me after that night at Boardner's we could have shrugged it off and gone back to how things were. _He_ made things weird!"

 Ginny had been itching to rant about Mike to someone for days. She'd considered talking to her therapist, but thought better of it after remembering who the woman was employed by.

"Ginny, honey, you know I've known Mike for a while now 'cause of Blip. That man does not handle his feelings well. Not after Rachel."

"Which is exactly why he should've followed my lead!"

"Maybe before the last game I would have agreed with you Ginny, but now… because I know you both, I can see that this … this 'thing' you two have, it's too deep to ignore, and I think Mike knows that too.

"You have _never_ let personal issues affect your game before. Same as Mike… and yet look what happened! The media are still discussing it! Honey, you gotta ask yourself why. And you _have_ to talk to Mike."

 

 

*************

 

 

Five minutes had passed and Mike still hadn't come in to Ginny's locker storeroom. She had thought that by asking in front of the other guys, he'd feel pressured into coming.

She was just starting to get worked up, angry speeches forming in her head, before he entered.

Without bothering to knock, he strolled in and swung the door shut behind him. He plopped himself down onto the empty seat across from Ginny's with a soft thump, looking solemn and flighty.

Ginny reckoned she'd get a full five minutes with him, max. Straight to the point then.

"We have to decide what we're going to do. We can't keep tip-toeing around and avoiding each other. Don't get me wrong - I really wanted to, it was working great these past two days - but Ev sat me down and damn does she paint a scary future if we keep this up.

"We've gotta talk about that night… and maybe- maybe consider what we can do about it. About us… what comes next for us." 

Almost immediately Mike replied, "Nothing comes next."

Ginny gaped, feeling like she'd been beaned. She swallowed before continuing.

"Did you even hear what I said? Was I the only one out there last game?"

He was shaking his head. "As far as I'm concerned, yeah you were. Look Baker, dwelling on what happened isn't working out for us. We need to go back to being normal teammates, like how we were before- "

" _Normal?_ Ha!"

"- _before_ we went and got too close and fucked things up. God, why can't you just make this easier?"

"Because I'm telling you it won't work!"

"You don't know that! Ev's not right about everything!" He grimaced, feeling strangely as though his foot had been stomped on by a stiletto heel. Evelyn had powers.

"We can't be doing this again Lawson, I don't have the energy for another fight!" Ginny stood up and started pacing the small room with one arm crossed over her chest, leaving the other in free motion. 

"I'm not the one yelling here!"

"Maybe if you listened I wouldn't need to be yelling!" She lowered her voice and looked at him imploringly. "We were never 'normal'… normal teammates don't flirt like we do, or call each other nearly every night. Why can't you just consider this? Is it… is it so bad?"

He tapped his foot furiously, scrunched up his face and groaned before coming to a decision.

"Fine, you really want me to speak my mind, bare my soul and all that? Ok. I'll do that for you.

"There's something here between us," he gestured wildly back and forth. "You feel it, I feel it. We're past high school level denial here… and sure, usually I would jump at the chance to explore these dumb feelings, in fact I'm gonna be totally honest with you - I'm dying to do just that. I've accepted I can't win Dicaprio's heart, but I've never looked down on second place. So I want to do the whole damn thing. With you."

Ginny stilled, barely breathing.

"But say we do try this thing out. What happens here in the clubhouse? Do we hide that we're more than just teammates, if that’s even possible? Or do we tell management and say screw the consequences? Are we going to hold hands and make cute faces while standing next to Blip and Salvi? On the field am I gonna be having flashbacks of you in our private moments as a 90mph - optimistic, I know - ball comes flying at my face, or my balls, never can be sure with your lollipop pitches.

"Ginny, this won't work. Don't you think I've spent every moment thinking it through? Every scenario ends in disaster.  We get found out and the press flays you for dating your thirty-six year old Captain, and I get murdered by feminists and ballplayers alike who think I'm taking advantage of you. The team'll hate us both for making the clubhouse a soap opera warzone. Blip would skin me - you're like his little sister, fuck, Oscar and Al would-

"You know, why am I even telling you all this? You already know more than I do." He stood up, and in the crowded space of the cluttered storeroom, they were barely inches apart. "So now it's your turn to tell me. What do you want, Ginny Baker?"

"That’s not - I'm not asking for all of that -."

"Then tell me what you _are_ asking for! Tell me what you want. You've got the most to lose here! In the end, what happens next is your choice, not mine. I'm outta here in a year whether I like it or not! It's you who's going to feel the consequences of what we do for the next fifteen years."

The fluorescent lights in the small room buzzed and flickered, reminding them of where they were.

Shifting nervously, Ginny let out a dry laugh. "Fifteen years, is it? That’s a lot of faith you've got in me old man."

He fixed his eyes on hers intensely as he replied, "You're one of a kind, _Forty-Three_. There'll never be another you."

 

Her heart stuttered painfully in her chest… _'what she wanted'_ … when did she ever get to choose what she wanted?

 

Her shoulders relaxed as she lifted her eyes to return his gaze.

 

… _No more thinking_.

 

The lights flickered again and in that moment she closed the space between them, capturing his lips with her own.

Barely a second passed before he responded, wrapping his arms around her and hoisting her up. He enveloped her so it was just the two of them, and no one else existed. Her hands came to rest on either side of his cheeks, disappearing into his soft beard as she twisted her legs around his waist and moaned quietly into his open mouth, letting him deepen the kiss.

"What are we doing?" He managed to ask, voice hoarse as he kissed down the edge of her lips, her neck, her throbbing pulse.

"Don't think," she gasped.

Silently agreeing, he roughly pushed her up against the wall beside her locker, rejoining his mouth with hers and biting her lower lip in the exact spot he'd seen her worry a hundred times before. She dropped one leg to the floor, knowing it must be killing the catcher's knees to hold her up for that long, though he would never tell her. Her left arm curled around to squeeze his ass in a tight grip. He smirked into her mouth as he returned the favor.

It seemed like hours, or minutes before a knock on the door jolted them apart and a familiar voice hesitantly called from outside.

"Hey guys, just wondering if you're still alive in there… been a little too quiet for a while."

They turned away from each other abruptly, scrambling to fix their ruffled clothes.

"Why are you even still here Blip? Go home already you nosy wretch!" Mike snapped through the door. When had Ginny undone his shirt buttons? There was some muffled cursing before he heard his friend's fading footsteps.

Turning back to Ginny, he realized something was wrong. She looked scared, her breathing harsh as she gulped air in through her mouth in a rush. Her hands were frantically waving back and forth in front of her face, as if to propel more air in her direction.

Mike grabbed her trembling shoulders with his steady hands.

"You're fine. Breathe in and out slowly. The door is locked, it's just me and you Rook. No one else." He kissed her forehead quickly as she nodded and slowly began to control her breathing.

She sat down and he followed suit, rolling his chair close to hers and placing his hand on her knee comfortingly. A small smile appeared on her face as she laid her own on top of his. Time passed as her breathing gradually evened out.

"Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for."

"I'd forgotten.. and then the knock just..."

"I know."

"Yeah." Her voice came out soft, and Mike couldn’t help but think about how beautiful she looked in that moment with her curly hair all ruffled around her still slightly flushed face, a sweet smile aimed right at him.

They were both silent for a while, their minds racing too fast to focus on any one thought. Ginny ignored it and simply sat, revelling in Mike's soft touch as he turned his hand on her knee and intertwined his fingers with hers.

 

"I know what I said earlier, about this ending in disaster… and I haven't changed my mind about that, because it's still true. There's so much that could go wrong." Mike lifted his arm to gently cup her cheek in his palm. "But, I think it's too late for both of us to go back to just being teammates. After today, I don't know if I can ignore what's between us anymore."

She squeezed his hand gently and leaned into his palm.

"Let's give this a shot then. We'll take it slow. Make rules to avoid your doomsday scenarios."

"Yeah?"

She nodded. "Yeah, old man."

Grinning he replied, "Once I show you what this _old man_ can really do, you'll never call me that again."

He pulled her up off the chair as he stood, back cracking loudly.

Ginny raised her eyebrows, staring pointedly.

"That doesn’t usually happen."

She laughed and leaned in for another kiss.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluff!! Yay!!
> 
> It was a close call though, this chapter nearly went overly angsty on me again, but I managed to work it back into the light. 
> 
> I hope it turned out okay in the end. I wrote 2 other versions before getting to this one. They might end up in future fics instead.
> 
> Let me know what you think in the comments! :)


End file.
